The American Medical Association (AMA)

The American Medical Association (AMA) is responsible for the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code. The CPT code is copyright protected by the AMA and describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services as well as being designed to communicate with uniform information about medical services and procedures among physicians, coders, patients, accreditation organizations, and payers for administrative, financial, and analytical purposes. Since the AMA is comprised of medical professionals there is a significance to the CPT code under their control. This give the medical professionals better control over the coding that is used within their field and provides a form of self-management. The AMA’s CPT process is updated by the association by
submitting new code proposals and changes to the existing codes. The AMA also comments on code changes proposed by outside vendors and other societies. The AMA owns the rights to the CPT code set, which is maintained by the CPT Editorial Panel. The panel meets three times each year to discuss and approve any CPT code additions, deletions, or revisions. With the changes an updated CPT manual is published on an annual basis. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) representatives review all proposed changes and, where appropriate, submit comments or requests for changes on behalf of neurology. The panel considers these written comments that are submitted. The AAN’s CPT staff and representatives attend panel meetings three times every year to discuss CPT codes. After the codes have been updated by the CPT Editorial Panel and approved by the AMA, the code is released and will be implemented in six months after it has been released.